A misleading social media trend has emerged as a video depicting a man swept away by floodwaters in Karachi, Pakistan, is being incorrectly attributed to recent storms in Cambodia. The video, circulated widely among Thai users, includes captions that falsely claim it shows flooding in Cambodia following severe weather events.
On September 1, 2025, a Facebook post in Thai featured the clip, captioned with “Cambodian flood.” The footage shows a flooded road, culminating in a man being washed away by the current. Another post sarcastically noted, “After Cambodian people mocked Thailand, the storm went back to them,” implying retribution for perceived insults between the nations.
The posts gained traction in the context of heavy rainfall in northwestern Cambodia. Reports from The Phnom Penh Post indicated that while flooding did occur, officials assessed the damage as not severe. Despite this, the footage shared on social media does not depict events in Cambodia but rather a scene from Karachi, which has been grappling with its own flooding issues.
As tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have risen, particularly after a ceasefire to halt recent border clashes, users from both nations have engaged in a war of words online. This includes cyberattacks on official websites and the dissemination of misinformation.
A reverse image search revealed that the video was originally posted on August 20 by Dialogue Pakistan, a citizen journalism platform. The caption stated that heavy rainfall in Karachi led to the incident, specifically on Shahrah-e-Faisal, a major road in the city. According to AFP, the monsoon rains that plagued Pakistan resulted in more than 20 fatalities, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events.
The clip’s background features a billboard advertising a meal deal from KFC, which the franchise’s Pakistani branch promoted on its Instagram account on August 6. This detail, along with geographic elements identifiable through Google Street View, corroborates the video’s true location.
Prior to its misattribution to Cambodia, the same footage had been incorrectly labeled as depicting flooding in Jammu City, India. Fact-checking organizations, including Fact Crescendo and Factly, debunked these claims. Additionally, AFP has reported on several false narratives surrounding Thailand and Cambodia, emphasizing the ongoing struggle against misinformation in the region.
As the situation unfolds, the power of social media continues to shape narratives, often with significant consequences. The misuse of such footage not only misleads viewers but also inflames existing tensions between neighboring countries.